Dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase 1 (DCP1) and butyrylcholinesterase (BCHE) gene interactions with the apolipoprotein E å4 allele as risk factors in Alzheimer’s disease and in Parkinson’s disease with coexisting Alzheimer pathology

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) are genetically heterogeneous. Dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase 1 (DCP1) and butyrylcholinesterase (BCHE) genes may modify the risk of these disorders. We investigated whether common polymorphisms present in these genes operate as risk factors for AD and PD in Finnish subjects, independently or in concert with the apolipoprotein E å4 allele (APOE å4). Eighty late onset sporadic AD patients, 53 PD patients (34 of whom had concomitant AD pathology), and 67 control subjects were genotyped for the insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism of DCP1 and the K variant of BCHE. In logistic regression analysis, the DCP1 *I allele in combination with APOE å4 significantly increased the risk of AD (OR 30.0, 95% CI 7.3-123.7), compared to subjects carrying neither of the alleles. Similar analysis showed that the risk of AD was significantly increased in subjects carrying both the BCHE wild type (*WT/ *WT) genotype and å4 (OR 9.9, 95% CI 2.9-33.8), compared to those without this BCHE genotype and å4. Further, the risk of PD with AD pathology was significantly increased for carriers of DCP1 *I and å4 (OR 8.0, 95% CI 2.1-31.1). We thus conclude that, in Finns, interaction between DCP1 *I and å4 increases the risk of AD as well as of PD with coexisting Alzheimer pathology, which underlines the importance of the DCP1 I/D polymorphism in the development of Alzheimer neuropathology, whereas the wild type BCHE genotype in combination with å4 had a combined eVect with regard to the risk of AD. (J Med Genet 2000;37:766–770)